Set of four gold coins Czechoslovak Airmen in the RAF - Significant Events 2018 Proof

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Czechoslovak airmen in the RAF

Each year, our "sky riders" - heroes who served in the British RAF during the Second World War - are honoured with a traditional set of four gold coins from the Czech Mint. In recent years, they have featured the emblems of the Czechoslovak squadrons, their most famous aircraft and famous air aces. In 2018, the coins commemorate important events.

The first deployment of the 310th Fighter Squadron in the Battle of Britain, the emergency landing of the KX B, the operation codenamed Stonewall that led to the sinking of the German blockade breaker SS Alsterufer, and the triumphant return of the Czechoslovaks to their homeland are immortalised in pure gold.

What was the fate of the aircraft with the call sign "KX-B"? In late December 1941, the crew of a Wellington bomber serving with the 311th Czechoslovak Bombardment Squadron embarked on its sixteenth raid. Its target was the North German port of Wilhelmshaven. The local docks were defended by heavy anti-aircraft fire supported by dozens of searchlights and Wellington was hit despite the best efforts of the pilots. Nevertheless, he was able to fly and headed back to England. Halfway between the Netherlands and the UK, however, the situation worsened - the aircraft lost its engine and became completely out of control. It was only with all their strength that the crew managed an emergency landing on the surface of the rough North Sea. Of the six men, only five made it into the lifeboat - the so-called dinghy. The drenched airmen fought for their lives in the tiny vessel for six endless days and six nights. When the sea washed up on the Dutch coast in early 1942, there were only three of them left. But that was not the end of their ordeal - they survived their deaths once more in Nazi captivity...

The four commemorative coins traditionally come from the studio of academic sculptor Zbyněk Fojtů. The reverse sides of each coin present the following war scenes - Czechoslovak fighters shoot down a German bomber over the cliffs of Dover; the crew of a KX-B fights for their lives at sea; a Liberator bomber attacks a German blockade breaker and sinks it; Czechoslovak pilots return from exile and land in Prague. The composition of the common obverse side consists of the elements of the island of Niue (the issuer that provides the Czech Mint with a foreign licence to mint its own commemorative coins) - i.e. the profile and name of the monarch Elizabeth II, the year of issue 2018 and the face value of 10 DOLLARS (NZD). Another element of the obverse is the description, which lists the four years tied to the individual reverse sides.

An attractive wooden etui, the lid of which is decorated with a thematic engraving, and a booklet with an expert treatise by military historian Lubor Václavů, PhD, are integral parts of the set.